


Simple Happiness

by Dark_Advent



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Thracia 776
Genre: Commoner & Noble, Eventual Romance, F/M, Headcanon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:13:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28499625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dark_Advent/pseuds/Dark_Advent
Summary: Ever since she joined Leif's army, Amalda has found herself tormented by the thoughts of both betraying her home country of Friege, and also being unable to stop the child hunts while she fought for them. However, not long after she finds solace in someone most unexpected: Ralph, the common mercenary she once fought alongside to defend the village of Solwood. Now being permanent allies, their relationship will have Amalda learn how to face and overcome her demons while also finding happinest in the most ordinary things... And the most ordinary of people.
Relationships: Ralph/Amalda
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	Simple Happiness

"Hnnngh…" is all that could be heard, as a white-haired woman woke up amidst what looked like an abandoned battlefield.

"Wh-What… Where am I?" Is all Amalda could muster as she found herself having a headache, feeling dizzy and disoriented. She slowly opened her eyes as her vision cleared up, and her eyes quickly became wide open at the sight of a dark red sky.

"Wh-Why is the sky-" she panicked before being interrupted by a surge of noise. One that came right from beneath her feet. She heard grumbles, and as she looked down she gasped in horror and disbelief.

Skeletons. The ground she was standing in was made up of piles upon piles of small bones and skulls, they must've belonged to children. And here they were, moving and clinging to her feet as they groaned and cried for help. Amalda's eyes were full of tears as she yelled out in fear and frustration. She felt the ground beneath her grow unstable, as she slowly became buried by the bones and the screams that very swiftly drowned hers.

"NNNNOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

“AH!” she woke up abruptly, standing up. She was agitated, and could feel the sweat and tears all over her face. Her hand ran down her face as she tried to calm down and come to terms with reality. It was just a dream…

She looked at her hand and pondered. “These… These are the hands of a murderer…” she uttered to herself. “Even if I’m now fighting for the right cause… I… The dozens of children I was unable to save back when I served the Empire… I…” she could do nothing but to give in and cry, covering her face even if there was no one to see her. 

After a while, she was able to calm down and get dressed in her uniform. She walked out of her tent and was welcomed by the morning sun. It was still early, so she was not surprised after seeing that nobody else was also awake. She walked around the camp to try and clear her mind, and that’s when she noticed a sight that caught her attention.  
It was a tall, muscular man, who was coming back into camp carrying a large sack which he dropped on an improvised wooden table. Upon emptying the bag, its contents were revealed to be edibles: Fruits, vegetables, radishes, potatoes, it was quite the impressive haul for an area with no nearby farms or villages. They all seemed to be of the wild variety.

As she approached him, she was quick to recognize him. “Ralph? Sir Ralph, is that you?!” The man looked back, a bit startled upon hearing a strangely familiar voice.

“Hey! It’s you! Now this is a surprise!” he replied with an air of happiness. “What brings you here, Miss Amalda?”

“It's quite the complicated story, but I am now part of the Liberation Army. It was very sudden, but, I am honestly still processing it all…”

“And why would that be? You dumped those devilish imperials to join the right cause! Those damn Friegans really do seem inhuman-”

“ENOUGH!” Amalda replied, now distraught. “I… T-They’re not… Not all of them… Not all of us want to be servants of Loptous…”

“Hm? I mean, I wouldn’t doubt it, but… You Friegans are so darn strong, I get the feeling that you could oppose the Empire and still come out victorious.” Amalda could do nothing but look shamefully to the side. “So why don’t you do that? Why do your people serve as imperial lapdogs if what you say is true?” 

“It’s not that easy…” Amalda could only reply in embarrassment. “King Blume refuses to speak about the issue, and I’ve even gotten the chance to meet with Emperor Arvis, but… Both of them refuse to listen. It’s as if they’re nothing but puppets… And as knights, we’re nothing but an extension of their strings.”

“Well, that sounds pretty stupid if you ask me.”

“W-What did you say?!”

“If your leaders are failures, then it should be you guys who make them come to reason. You guys should try and think for yourselves a little more, methinks. You should protect your king, yes, but you also fight to protect the people. If your King starts openly hurting the people, then what? You’re just gonna sit back and comply?”

“I…” Amalda failed to formulate an answer. 

“What I‘m trying to say here is, that you should fight for your own sense of honor. Do what you think is right. Even if it seems like the odds are against you.”

“Sir Ralph…”

“I mean, look at me! I was nothing but a farmer back in the day, but after seeing the atrocities the Empire was committing, I just had enough, grabbed my machete and became a mercenary who wouldn’t hesitate to help, even if there was no pay.”

“I, I see…”

“Do you think I wasn’t scared? Do you think that I didn’t sometimes laugh at the fact that I was a farmer standing up against an empire? Because of course I did. Yet look at me, now. Look at us. We’re not alone anymore, are we? We’re fighting for what we believe in, and we got comrades to help us.”

“You’re right... “ Amalda now felt sad, never having realized this until now.

“Look.” said Ralph as he put his hand on Amalda’s shoulder, which was met by a gasp of surprise. “I can tell your head is killing you, so why not try distracting yourself in the meantime?”

“H-Huh? Distract myself? With what?”

“Well, uh…” Ralph said as he looked around, realizing that they were seemingly the only people awake at the camp. “Seems like we’re the only ones awake, so, how about you help me peel these vegetables?” Amalda looked lost for a second, blinking and then snapping back to reality.

“Uhm… Pardon?”

“Hm? Something wrong?” Ralph asked, now a bit concerned.

“Oh, no, it’s just that, I, uhm, I don’t really have any experience with these things.” she said, now getting quite flustered. Ralph raised an eyebrow.

“Are you for real? You were a former general who got some real fancy training, right? Never got any lessons on basic cooking?”

“Not really, no…” Amalda couldn’t look her comrade in the eye.

“Oh, boy…” Ralph sighed, not in disappointment but more so in sheer disbelief. “Well, only thing I can say is you can watch how I do it.”

Amalda stood back and did her best to look, still quite ashamed at the fact that she was bad with a knife despite wielding the sword. As she watched, her eyes widened at how quickly and skillfully Ralph was able to do it. Not only that, but this was also the first time she had ever seen a man be so skilled at the kitchen who wasn’t a specialized cook.

“Aaaaaand that’s about the gist of it. You got that?” he looked around only to see Amalda quietly giggling. He raised his eyebrow yet again. “Huh? What’s so funny?”

“I’m sorry!” she kept giggling. “I just never expected someone like you to do something of the sort! And to be quite good at it, too.”

“Huh? And what’s that supposed to mean?” Ralph rolled his eyes, now being his turn to get flustered.

“You’re a mercenary, are you not? How did you learn to look for wild edibles and even cook?”

“Well, uh, with something called ‘common sense’. Ever heard of it?”

“W-What do you mean by that?” Amalda said clenching her fists together, not taking Ralph’s sarcasm very well.

“I was a travelling mercenary, yes. But before that, I was a farmer. When I became a sellsword, money was pretty scarce, so I learned how to look for wild mushrooms and vegetables. So, sorry for lacking the skills of whatever high-end cuisine you had with those darn Friegans.”

“I-It’s not like that!” she became rather agitated.

“Calm down, will ya? I wasn’t being serious there. And do you have to stutter all the time? Why do you act scared?” he noted, speaking while also peeling a potato flawlessly.

“I… I’m not really sure, to tell you the truth...” she said, looking away in shame. She muttered to herself “I know exactly why, but why would a stranger like him ever care about my pro- Huh?” she felt his shoulder poking her as he kept peeling. 

“You’re zoning out again. What did I tell you? Get your mind busy, and lose yourself in that instead.” he said as he kept peeling vegetables.

“A-Alright. I’ll try.” she said as she grabbed a knife, carefully picked the vegetable which looked to be the least dirty, and was preparing to cut.

“Wrong.” she heard and stopped. “You don’t see me grabbing it like that, do you? Just try to copy my moves. That should give you an idea.”

“Okay…” and so, she took a deep breath. She closed her eyes, and began to mentalize. “He might be right, maybe I do need to give my mind a break…” and so, she began to closely follow every one of his movements.

It didn’t take long before she got the hang of it, and suddenly found herself losing track of time. For every little mistake she did, Ralph was always there to help her out. Eventually, half an hour passed and Amalda came back to reality when she realized there weren’t any things to cut. 

“Whew! That was some work, alright. Hope it didn’t tire you much, Amalda.”

“Oh, not at all! In fact, I feel somewhat refreshed. It’s weird, I don’t think I’ve ever felt this relaxed doing something so mundane.”

“Hm. Not a fan of hobbies, I take it. Well, let this be a taste to what just shutting up your mind and doing something else can do. And hey, we’ve also done our part in the army now. This food should suffice for everyone.”

“Ralph… Thank you.”

“No need to say it, Amalda. I don’t know what kind of demons you’re fighting with, but I imagine it’s tough. Don’t be afraid to reach out if that’s the case. I’ll always be willing to lend a hand.”

“I will keep it in mind. Thank you once more.”

“Well, how about we eat now? The upcoming battle won’t be easy. We’re on our way to Fort Danzig and then the River Thracia. We’ll need to be in our best spirits.

And so, they both indulged in the food they had helped prepare along the rest of the army. Amalda for the first time was able to partake in whatever chats people were having and occasionally laugh. The thoughts of betrayal and enabling were nothing but a faint memory to her that day, and so she rode into battle, knowing that now she had a friend to confide in.

To be continued...

**Author's Note:**

> Whew! Sorry for taking to long between publications again. Life's been tough and that's on top of me just being generallly uninspired. Hopefully I can improve this year. This story is probably the first of its kind, with Thracia ships not involving Leif perfectly fitting the 'Rarepair" category. I thought these two had some potential and well, here I am trying to see if they do. Hope you all enjoy it, and super-late Hapy New Years to everyone!


End file.
